


Intimacy

by vanceypants



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Prostitution, Robot/Human Relationships, Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanceypants/pseuds/vanceypants
Summary: Nimbi seeks intimacy in a goth prostitute during her final day of functionality.
Relationships: Nimbi/Betty, Original Female Character(s)/Original Non-Human Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	Intimacy

**Author's Note:**

> A little something I whipped up. I just really really like robots, man.

They’d told Nimbi she had ten days of charge left in her system.

That had been nine days ago.

It was strange. Last month, when they’d told her she had 30 days, she’d thought she had plenty of time. Time to get her affairs in order. And she had, of course. Donated most of her worldly possessions aside from what few she’d need to carry out her final days. Gotten that short style to her syntho-hair that she’d always wanted. Eaten her first bite of human food (it had been underwhelming, to say the least). A robot didn’t require a will, just an unlocked door to allow the sweepers to come in after she’d deactivated to collect her parts, recycle her empty battery, and crush whatever remained of her short life into small blocks of mechanical waste.

And then when they’d told her she had ten days left, she’d assumed now would be the time to really pack in experiences. But the more she’d thought about it, the less she knew where to start. Skydiving wasn’t exactly a robot endeavor, and certainly not one she’d be interested in investing in anyway. Her metal skin wouldn’t hold a tattoo very well, though she supposed a temporary one wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, all things considered. She’d always wanted a pet—and when she’d been new, two decades prior, she’d very nearly gotten a snake, but the pet shop owner had refused her business (it had been a less enlightened time, and in fairness, metallic fingers did not look conductive to the gentle touch needed for a legless reptilian companion)—but it would be cruel to invest now, knowing she’d have to abandon it in her expiration.

She did spend some time at the dog park, before a concerned citizen had informed her that her purple skin was reflecting the sunlight into the dogs’ eyes, and her inhuman scent was disturbing them.

She’d thought they’d liked her, the puppies who would run up and lick her petting hands. But she must have been mistaken. Perhaps her processors were just as degraded as her obsolete battery pack.

Now, as it stood, she had one day left. And the choice paralysis was even stronger, though in all honesty all she wanted to do was stay in bed and mope. Nimbi had never been particularly self-pitying; life had always been an adventure she’d longed to throw herself headlong into. Even when she’d received notice that the company which had built her so long ago was going under, and no professionals would be able to perform necessary maintenance on her, she’d stayed positive. She’d found herself a private collector interested in working on defunct bots.

But even he couldn’t work miracles.

He couldn’t replace what was no longer produced.

An old friend, Edgar. Elderly, with hands that shook in every moment except when he was working on his electrical projects. She’d considered, briefly, spending her final day with him. Surely he’d treat her with dignity.

Instead, she found herself walking down the red light district, clutching a fistful of cash out in the open. She wondered if this section of the city looked more glamorous at night. SHe suspected that must be the case, the nighttime masking the garbage and the stray cats snarling at each other. She hadn’t the time to wait until night, though, and had to hope that there was someone working their corner this early in the day.

That was when she saw Betty.

White and black strands of hair curled over her left eye, while a cloud of excessive curls spilled over her back and shoulder. Lips painted black over her tanned face, the one eye which was uncovered by hair lined with thick lashes (Nimbi suspected fake) and dark eyeshadow. Her features were soft, despite the harshness of her tight black attire, and Nimbi hated herself for staring at the way her hip rested against an unlit light post.

Their eyes met for just one moment before someone was knocking Nimbi over, kicking her in her side just enough to dent her (normally the cosmetic damage would have been distressing, but she was covered in her favorite turtleneck, and besides, soon all of her would be crushed to match it) and stealing her cash.

“What the fuck?” Her voice was smoky, as was her scent, as her black heels stomped forward. She yelled for a moment after the kids, before stooping down, her short leather skirt riding up the softness of her thighs, as her hand took Nimbi’s own cold one. “You okay?”

“I am now,” Nimbi couldn’t seem to push anymore power into her voice, as the girl lifted her back to her feet. Her circuits sizzled pleasantly with the touch of their hands.

“What were you thinking, waving your money around like that?” She laughed. Though Nimbi was certain she was laughing at her, she searched deep in her databanks for an appropriate good-natured laugh to share with her as well. The human’s face grew softer. “What’re you doing here?”

“Searching for intimacy.”

“A good time, huh?”

“Yes.” Nimbi was quiet a moment, before thrusting her hand out once it was released from the other’s. “I am Nimbi. I’m a mobile sentient cloud server.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you NIMBI units.” She took her hand, smiling lazily. “I’m Betty.”

“What a pretty name for a pretty girl.” The flirtatious line came somewhere from within her servers, some sort of vapid love poem someone had saved in her for later and never retrieved.

“Thanks.” Betty laughed again. It was a pretty, husky sound. Nimbi felt her insides rattle from it. “I guess without your dough you’re not going to be getting many good times, though, huh?”

“Probably not. This is no charity.”

“Yeah, sure isn’t. But hey, you’re pretty cute for a…are you a girl?”

“I am a cloud server.”

“Yeah, but, like-”

“Ah. And a robot.”

“I gathered that.” Betty looked her up and down. “You’re definitely cute though. Tell ya what. We can work out some sort of trade. Why don’t you come with me?”

Nimbi followed her to one of the ugly brick buildings. The door to Betty’s apartment opened, revealing a bead curtain, which she parted with her black-nailed hand.

“You are a gothic, yes?”

“I’m a little gothy, sure. Some guys are into the dark and brooding type.” She lead her through the living room, a mattress laying in the middle of the floor, between a TV and a hole-riddled couch.

And through a kitchen, the smell of burned food lingering within the air.

“Yeah, tried to make a PopTart. Didn’t work out so great.”

Past the bathroom, where someone was hunched over the toilet, heaving. Betty grabbed the doorknob, easing it shut, then grinning at Nimbi. “Don’t mind Nico, he just had a hard night.”

“I know this feeling of hard nights.”

“Yeah? It’s a shit world out there, huh?”

Finally they reached the back bedroom, and another bead curtain. Betty stepped through it, and Nimbi hesitated only a moment. Staring at her through the veil, her pretty face and soft hair. Betty pushed her hair behind her ear, looking back at her with a shyer smile. Her right eye was a dark brown.

The left one was murky, unfocused, scarred.

“Are you damaged?”

Betty’s smile fell, as Nimbi finally stepped through the curtain.

“Because I am damaged too,” Nimbi added before Betty could respond. “I am running out of charge.”

“Listen, kid, I don’t really talk robot.”

“I think your damage is beautiful, Ms. Betty.” Nimbi reached out, cupping her palm against Betty’s heavily foundationed cheek. The shiny purple of her fingertips glistened in the fairylights strung up around the room.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” She said, before grabbing her wrist, tugging her towards the circular bed. She didn’t exactly push Nimbi, but she did help guide her down. Nimbi sat on the edge of the bed, the softness of the mattress much more comfortable than the steel charging station she used to utilize every night (back when there was a purpose in such rest). “And what do you mean by running out of charge?” Betty began to remove her earrings, stopping in the action only long enough to kick off her shoes.

She was so much smaller in person.

“My battery no longer functions. Today is predicted to be my last day of functionality.”

“Oh.” Betty set the earrings down. “So much for a payment plan then, huh?”

“Yes. I apologize. This would require a certain level of charity, as we joked, yes. I just have never experienced such contact in my life, and I wanted to before-”

“-you end up in that big MacBook in the sky. I get it.” Betty snorted. “That wasn’t the best comparison. Like I said, don’t speak bot so well.”

“It was very amusing. I forgot to find a laugh in time, and have been informed that there is a small window where laughter would be considered appropriate. But I did find the comment very amusing.”

“Thanks, kid. Nimbi, I mean. I shouldn’t be calling you kid. That’s kind of creepy.” Betty moved forward, placing one knee against the bed, before she draped herself against Nimbi, straddling her. Her manicured hands rested against the soft cloth shoulders of her turtleneck. “I guess this will have to be a charity show then. Pro boner.”

“Word play! Very amusing!” This time, Nimbi remembered to turn on her laughter, though she chose the incorrect file, and ended up echoing studio audience applause in the mix as well.

Betty gave a mock-bow as best she could from her position.

“Yeah, I used to wanna be a comedian, but puns aren’t going to get you far. And I have great tits, so I figured, fuck it, you know?”

“I see.” She failed to see. Humans weren’t as bound by a primary purpose as robots were, surely.

“But hey, what are you into, hot shot?” She winked her blinded eye, then laughed that intoxicating laugh of hers.

“I want intimacy.”

“Yeah, but what’d you have in mind? I do it all, you know.”

Nimbi braced herself. Such a daring request would require strength and determination.

“I was hoping we may hold hands, just for a little while.”

“Hold…uh, is that a robot euphemism?”

Maybe she didn’t understand. Nimbi raised both of her own hands, interlocking her fingers. “It is when two beings do this. But with the other’s hand, of course.”

“No, like, I know what handholding is. I haven’t done that shit since, what, 3rd grade?”

“Oh.” Her gaze fell.

Betty cupped Nimbi’s face with both hands, lifting her disappointed face to meet her eyes. “This is seriously what you want?”

“Oh yes. I have never had the bravery to impose myself upon another prior to this. But it is my last desire before my time expires.”

“You’re a little bit of a poet, Nims.” The nickname was new, and thrilling, and Nimbi wondered what she could do to keep it coming. Betty flopped out of her lap, sighing a little, then crawling her fingertips over towards Nimbi. “Alright. I’ll hold your hand. But it’s the same rate.”

“You said you weren’t going to-”

“Exactly. $0, with zero percent interest for the first six months.”

“But I will not be here in six months.”

And then Betty was holding her hand. Nimbi forgot what she was arguing, as their fingers interlocked. It was nicer than the feeling of her using her hand to lift her up after being mugged, or when they shook hands in introduction.

Betty’s hand was soft, the fingertips just slightly calloused, a small tattoo of a bird upon her thumb. Her nails, black and polished, were well trimmed, and the slightest of touch of them only amplified the pleasantness. Her shoulders were freckled, she realized as she looked at her more intently, as was her face, freckles glittering underneath her heavy makeup.

Betty flopped onto her back, tugging Nimbi down with her. “Here. Put your head on my shoulder, would you?”

“Oh! Yes, of course I can comply with that.”

She shifted over closer, her head laying heavy and tired against her. Betty’s other arm looped over, wrapping around Nimbi’s waist and tugging her in flush against her.

“There,” She said softly. “That’s better, isn’t it, Nims?”

“Much.” 

Oh, how she wished she hadn’t waited until her final day for this.

Betty held her, kissing the top of her head once, and Nimbi thought surely the electricity of her affection, of her touch, might be enough to jumpstart her battery.

Even if it wasn’t, her life had been worth it, if it had brought her to this one moment of synchronization.


End file.
